The two companions had formed a deep bond over four years of being together until one of them was forcibly taken away.
Just like human beings, animals also depend on each other for support and care. A bird named Peggy and an adorable dog, Molly shared one such deep bond of friendship. For the past four years, people have been admiring their inspirational friendship on social media. However, in a heartbreaking turn of events, these companions were separated. The Department of Environment, Science, and Innovation (DESI)’s members took away Molly. Their bond with each other is so deep that people were outraged by this decision and decided to do something to reunite them. They started an online campaign to bring the bird back and it has already received about 1,05,259 signatures on Change.org.
Peggy is a Staffordshire bull terrier and Molly is a magpie, an Australian bird. Their bond has been popular online and has attracted thousands of followers on Instagram and Facebook. Juliette Wells, an Australian photographer and her husband Reece Mortenson had taken Molly into their lives during the lockdown in 2000. Since then, both Molly and Peggy have been inseparable. On March 26, Tuesday, the couple posted an emotional video to share the heartbreaking news. “It breaks our heart to make this announcement today,” said Wells. “We had to surrender Molly to the DESI as we had a small group of people constantly complaining to them.”
The online community could not take the news well as they had witnessed the beautiful friendship between these two adorable animals. They left several comments providing support to the couple. @robbykernaghan commented, “Heartbreaking. This is a classic example of bureaucracy over common sense and humanity. Our tax-payer funded departments should be using their resources to help the community and save mistreated wildlife, not harm them!!” @andreatanzi wrote, “I’m speechless. This is nothing but animal cruelty to take this bird away from his home, which he has chosen himself. That’s no help that’s wrong and should not happen. Do people ever learn how to deal with or treat animals??” @gosia4313 said, “I have phoned the Department’s complaints line and registered a formal complaint. I think they are aware of the issue. I just hope that at the end of the day, it will be resolved in Molly’s favor.” @pamelacookwrites, “So sorry to hear this. Will send some emails. Crossing everything, Molly is home soon.”
Q spokesperson from the Department of Science and Innovation, in a statement, said that the bird had been “illegally” taken from the wild and kept with them with “no permit, license, or authority,” per CNN. “Animals in rehabilitation must not associate with domestic animals due to the potential for them to be subjected to stress and the risks of behavioral imprinting and transmission of diseases,” the statement read. “Animals from the wild must stay wild.”
Wells had earlier posted on Facebook that they found Molly in a park. She wrote, “After waiting around for hours, we noticed the parents in the tree but did not want to go near this little bird, so we decided to rescue this little fledgling, being very aware that this was an off-leash dog park, the afternoons became a playground of many different breeds of excitable dogs no bird would survive that so we took this fluff ball home and nursed it back to health.”
In the online petition created by Wells and Mortenson, they said, “We are asking why a wild Magpie can’t decide for himself where he wants to live and who he wants to spend his time with.” It is titled, “Reunite Peggy and Molly: Don’t Break Their 4-Year Bond.” The online uproar made Queensland Premier Steven Miles say that government officials would work with the pet parents to have the right permits to keep Molly with them, per BoredPanda. “I think sometimes common sense needs to prevail, and in this instance, ensuring that they can legally take care of Molly is the best outcome for Molly as well as the family,” he said. “I don’t want to see any of the rules broken, but there has to be a way within the rules to see Molly live out a happy life with the family.” While it is unclear whether these two friends will be reunited in the future, their friendship has already left a great impact in people’s hearts.
